02 X-star stereo upgrade!! ;)

[kal_dude]

the stock deck in my 02 X-Star has been disappointing me for a long time, NOT because of the sound, but for the ER3 and ER6 messages quite often when you are playing a CD, and now that i have a smart phone (Droid), i really wanted to play pandora thru the deck, i got an fm transmitter, but had to turn the phone volume down to about 2/3 to get rid of distortion... annoying!! just wanted it to do things it wasn't designed to do, i have been looking for a long time for a replacment that would do what i wanted to. here is what i have now,
1. deck, Alpine 9886M
2. driver remote, Alpine MC 20
3. tramsom remote Alpine MC2
4. cockpit speakers amp, stock Clarion APX400.4M (run as 2 channel)
5.tower speaker amp, JL Audio 300/2
6 Sub Amp, JL Audio, E1200
7. cockpit speakers JL Audio 7.7" components (4)
8. tower speakers JL Audio 7.7" components (2) for now, have 2 more, just need to make mounts for the 06 style cans, and need a light for one
9. Sub, JL Audio 10"

2nd battery needed now

i had to machine the spacer for the drivers side remote, but works perfectly there! the hole was the correct size, as was the one in the back, also made the aluminum spacers for the cockpit speakers, but mastercraft offers plastic ones ;(

[mzimme]

Looks damn good. How long can you crank that before that thing drains your Aux battery(s)?

[vrsc]

sweet, congrats

[seth25]

What is the purpose of the speaker backing rings in the bow?

Thanks

[kal_dude]

the Aluminum ones are to space the speaker out, because the 7.7" ones are deeper than the 6.5" stock ones, and would hit the hull, also when i made the mounting hole bigger for the 7.7" speakers in the front, i had to offset them so that the speakers wouldn't hit the seat cushions, the rear ones are in the stock location, just opened up the hole for the JL speakers to fit in

[mzimme]

That stereo would make anyone jealous. JL audio is amazing. I'm a big car audio nut, and that's some good stuff. Obviously being marine rated helps your causes, but I'm a big MB Quart fan. JL stuff is great though, I'm sure you're a happy camper


Soooo... about that battery... How's it hold up?

[kal_dude]

plus i earned cash back on all my purchases doesn't get any better than that!!! anyone looking to buy anything would be foolish not to do the same

[brucemac]

hey nice work, looks great. curious, where did you get the bow spacers? did you have them made? also, any reason why you didn't go with the newer JL tweeters? maybe cost, or maybe the deralic hole from the old tweeter cup? lastly, how many watts RMS to each of those JL's?

[briggle2]

Nice set up! I've got the exact same boat, I should follow your setup! I had to replace the smaller Clarion Amp but I've still got the big one that you show.

[sheckski]

Nice set up. I have a 2000 205v and when i upgraded my remote i put it in the dash in place of a spedo. looking at your rig i am going to take a fresh look at perhaps modifying the remote location as you have done. regarding the installation of the amps, how did you accomplish that without going through the fiberglass into the walk through?

Thanks

[kal_dude]

brucemac, i have the JL tweeters, but just haven't installed them in the boat yet, it got hot out, and i wanted to get on the water.... or maybe i just was a little lazy because the clarion ones work with the JL speakers lol.... i will be putting the tweeters in the boat this week i machined the spacers from Aluminum, only to find out that mastercraft makes white plastic ones that they use in the newer boats, but mine are COOLER lastly, a LOT of watts RMS to each of the 7.7"s

briggle2, it is a great sounding set up, let me know if you want info on anything of where/how to get the best prices, and cash back on your purchases

Sheckski, no modification needed for the remote location, just the aluminum spacer that i made, it makes a perfect install i made mine in my shop, let me know if you want to order one too as far as mounting the amps, and not going thru the fiberglass, i took a screw out of the clarion amp, and measured it, got some ones the same length, put it on the cordless screw gun, crossed my fingers, closed my eyes, and got it done!

FYI.... anyone wanting to put 7.7"s in the cockpit, you have to offset holesaw cut the mounting holes so the speakers clear the seat back cushions.... just don't want anyone to make that mistake!!